Hi I’m Caitlin, and I’m a Katy Perry-aholic.
Katy Perry is many things, but one thing she definitely is not is boring – which is the main reason why I spent most of my bordering-on-teenage years a devout Katycat. To be honest, she’s not even much of a guilty pleasure anymore… tons of her tracks, ranging from the profound ‘Thinking of You’ to the wildly politically incorrect ‘Ur So Gay’ (which, put simply, would get absolutely slated had it been released ten years later), take up a chunk of my playlists. No shame.
Nonetheless, I feel like she’s a teeny bit forgotten about these days. She released the airily fun Prism, and went off the radar – or so it seems, anyway. But for me, her peak period was her earliest one, which has left possibly the most fun legacy yet. She’s a gospel-singing introvert turned Californian Pop Goddess, and I admire her for it.
I own every one of her albums, four T-shirts, a “California Dreams Tour” giant lollipop – a product of her whimsical Californian Girl phase – and saw her twice in concert for my ninth birthday. One of these was my first concerts, ever, and to this day remains the best. She beat Fleetwood Mac. And the Bob Dylan & Neil Young double bill in Hyde Park, this summer. Seriously. It’s not just her music which is uplifting, it’s the Katy Perry experience. Her dozens of costume changes in the five-minute duration of ‘Hot N Cold’, and tearful rendition of ‘Thinking Of You’, created the best night of my childhood.
One of The Boys – her first EP released under her stage name – was probably my first facilitator of tween-age angst. Personally speaking, this was her best album. From accusatory, feisty ‘Mannequin’ to punchy ‘Hot N’ Cold’ (a staple track when visiting Popworld on a night out in Liverpool), every single track is a bubbly banger. It’s a bundle of joy, epitomises teenage rebellion (‘I Kissed A Girl’), and it’s downright fun. Yes she’s been criticised before, for her supposedly generic lyrics and stereotypical bubblegum-pop mien, but her music makes you feel good – isn’t this how music should ultimately make you feel? It couldn’t be more relevant than it is today.
When everything pop is made political, Katy Perry is here to make you forget about the latter for a little while…
Listen to Katy Perry on Spotify and Apple Music.
